AMAs 2018: Taylor Swift, Rihanna pull off biggest surprises

The 46th American Music Awards (AMA) held on October 9 at the Microsoft Theatre saw America’s choice of music and artistes revealed.

There being a variety of world class musicians in the US, choosing winners in the respective categories, must have been tough, I presume.

For these awards, Americans are solely left to vote for their preferred entertainers through a poll at the AMA website.

The end product of this democracy left several quotas surprised, and in some cases, even shocked.

Which are these highlights?

Taylor Swift beats Whitney Houston’s legendary record

Behold, Taylor Swift is now the world’s most awarded female artiste of the American Music Awards. She has now beaten the late legendary songstress Whitney Houston at it.

Taylor Swift on Tuesday officially had her pool of 23 AMA awards, beating Whitney Houston’s pool of 21 awards. This is despite her taking a three-year break from award shows. She came back with a thud, scooping four accolades, including being crowned as Artist of the Year.

The late pop legend, Michael Jackson, tops the chart with 24 AMAs.

OTR II tour loss

Beyonce and Jay-Z came all out on their tour On The Run (OTR) II, making rounds in 13 countries, serving us a beautiful concoction of their talents, but lost the AMA tour award.

Taylor Swift, you guessed right, walked home with the trophy, for her ‘Reputation Stadium’ tour which only made rounds to 7 countries. Could be fair though, because unlike OTR II, Reputation Stadium’s concerts were mostly in the United States.

Drake leading nominations and winning none

Having hit us with globally viral hits like ‘In My Feelings’ and ‘God’s Plan’, it was almost impossible that Drake or his music will not make it as America’s choice for something. He didn’t. Even after having the most nominations (8) alongside Cardi B.

Yet another remarkable artist who walked home empty-handed was Ed Sheeran, despite receiving six nominations.

Rihanna: No music, Yes award

There has been more of Rihanna’s make-up line, Fenty Beauty, than her music lately. Her last album ‘Anti’ was released two years ago. She still has Americans’ hearts on her radar, winning Favorite American Female Artist- Soul/ R&B over Ella Mai and SZA. And as they say, form is temporary but class is permanent. Evidently, Rihanna is class – and not a one-hit wonder.

5. The Greatest Showman, a musical yet not the best soundtrack

It seems like the ‘Wakanda juju’ is still working in America as the Greatest Showman, ironically an American musical film, lost the Favourite Soundtrack award to ‘Black Panther’. The other contender in this category was the ‘Fate of the Furious’ soundtrack.

Yet another person of interest at the AMAs 2018 was former ‘Fifth Harmony’ singer, Camila Cabello, who won New Artist of the Year and Pop/Rock song, Best Collaboration with Young Thug, Best Video (all for her song Havana).

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